“Bowling like Kapil Dev was the most difficult aspect of the character development” – Ranveer Singh on 83

December 20, 2021 - 3:11 PM IST

Ranveer Singh has wowed everyone with his brilliant transformation as the Indian cricket team captain and legend, Kapil Dev, in his next release 83. Ranveer is looking like a perfect replica of Kapil as he has perfected not just Kapil’s gait, batting posture, cricketing shots like the famous Natraj pose but has also aced Kapil’s bowling action in the new poster that dropped today. The internet has exploded with this image and people are commenting that they are getting goosebumps watching Ranveer become Kapil in the much-awaited Kabir Khan film about the underdog Indian cricket team winning the 1983 cricket World Cup. From his bowling grip, the arm lift before delivery, the neck position, the posture, the run-up - Ranveer has literally dissolved into becoming Kapil on screen.

“Bowling like Kapil Dev was the most difficult aspect of the character development” – Ranveer Singh on 83

Ranveer says, “Bowling like Kapil Dev was the most difficult aspect of the character development. He has a very unique bowling action and his bio-mechanics are very unique to him. My body is very different from his so I had to transform my physicality drastically in order to achieve it. It took a long time, in fact, months to perfect the action. Initially, my body was too heavy because I was coming off of the shoot of Simmba.”

He adds, “So, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, the legend of the 83-world cup who was also our coach noticed that my body was too heavy and he said jab tu run-up mein aata hai toh tu aisa lagta hai ki pehelwan bowling karne aa raha hai. And he sent me away for a month just to change my physicality to bring it closer to Kapil’s athleticism and then once I did that, I started making some headway. I was playing cricket for 4 hours a day for 6 months and doing physical conditioning for 2 hours a day for those 6 months. Four months of prep and 2-3 months of shoot, I put in a lot of hours.“

Ranveer’s metamorphosis to become Kapil Dev pushed his body to its limit. “There were a few injuries along the way but it was very important for me to crack his action because it is an iconic bowling action and all his admirers will be looking out for whether I did it right or not. More importantly for him to feel that I got it right and for me to feel that I got it right and for it just spot on in the film and I had to put in the work but it was very fulfilling. At the end of the process, I have become a decent enough bowler also,” says Ranveer.

He adds, “Apart from Balwinder Singh Sandhu I had a lot of help from our coach Rajiv Mehra and there were several sessions that I did on the pitch with Kapil himself who had his inputs also to offer.”